Driver pursued by Spokane deputies dies in crash

A driver being pursued by Spokane County sheriff’s deputies crashed head-on into a semi-truck and died Monday after driving for about a mile with a flat tire caused by law enforcement spike strips.

Several motorists reported a red Ford Taurus driving erratically near Deer Park about noon. Deputies spotted the car driving southbound on U.S. Highway 395, but the driver refused to stop.

The Washington State Patrol laid out spike strips near Hatch Road, which flattened the car’s right front tire, according to the Spokane Police Department, which is investigating the incident with Washington State Patrol and the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office. But the car didn’t stop, and about a mile south of the spike strips, it crossed into oncoming traffic and crashed into a northbound semi-truck hauling logs, police said.

The driver of the Taurus, who has not been publicly identified, was pronounced dead at the scene. The truck driver was not injured.

The two deputies involved in the crash, whose names have not been released, brief investigators on the crash Monday afternoon at WSP headquarters on North Division Street, sheriff’s Sgt. Dave Reagan confirmed.